Ryan Newman is still at Halifax Medical Center Tuesday afternoon recovering from one of the scariest NASCAR wrecks in recent memory.

He is in serious condition with injuries doctors said Monday night are not life-threatening. That information was released in a statement from Newman’s racing team Roush Fenway Racing.

The race team added another update Tuesday afternoon that Newman is “awake and speaking with family and doctors”.

There must still be concern for Newman’s racing career and the well being of his life, but “non life threatening” and “awake and speaking” is a stark improvement from the worries about Newman in the hour or two after the accident.

Fox television showed limited scenes of the response to Newman’s wrecked car and none at all of Newman being loaded into an ambulance. Jeff Gordon seemed on the verge of tears when Fox signed off its race broadcast.

In addition, information was nearly non-existent for the next 90 minutes. Every respected NASCAR reporter would only tweet that an update would be reported when NASCAR or Newman’s team provided it.

The lack of good news led to concern the news would eventually not be good. However, Roush Fenway tweeted their statement just after 10pm to alleviate fears of racing fans nationwide.

Newman’s crash came one day short of exactly 19 years after Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was killed in a similar incident at the same track. Advancements in safety technology could have very well saved Newman’s life. There has not been a race-related death in NASCAR Cup race since Earnhardt in 2001.

Newman’s future is still uncertain, but at least he will have one.